The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint
partnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests
your urgent intervention in the following situation in Vietnam and Thailand.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by the Vietnam Committee on Human
Rights (VCHR) about the suspected abduction and subsequent arbitrary detention
of blogger Mr. Truong Duy Nhat[1].

According
to the information received, on January 26, 2019 Mr. Truong Duy Nhat went missing in Bangkok,
Thailand, where he had fled to from Vietnam to seek political asylum. The day
before, he had gone to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) office in Bangkok in order to file an asylum claim.

It is suspected that Mr. Truong Duy Nhat was
abducted by unknown individuals in Bangkok before being taken back to Vietnam
against his will.

On March 15, 2019, Ms. Cao Thi Xuan Phuong, Mr.
Truong Duy Nhat’s wife, was allegedly informed by unknown sources that her
husband was being held at Hanoi’s T16 detention centre.

On March 20, 2019, Ms. Cao Thi Xuan Phuong went
to Hanoi’s T16 detention centre to attempt to visit her husband. However, the
prison authorities denied her visitation rights.
Moreover, they told her that her
husband had been arrested on January 28, 2019, and transferred on the same day
to T16 detention centre.

On March 25, 2019, during a press conference in
Hanoi, Public Security Ministry Spokesperson Lt Gen Tran Van Ve accused Mr.
Truong Duy Nhat of taking advantage of documents in possession of the newspaper Dai Doan Ket, where he was a journalist
from 1995 to 2010, to buy properties without an auction, causing financial loss
to the State. Lt Gen Ve said the case was still under investigation.

The Observatory recalls that this is not the
first time Mr. Truong Duy Nhat has been targeted. On June 26, 2014, the Supreme
People’s Court in Danang, central Vietnam, upheld a two-year prison sentence
against him for publishing articles on his blog that were critical of the
government, which Mr. Truong Duy Nhat served[2].

The Observatory is also concerned about the
situation of Mr. Bach Hong Quyen, another Vietnamese blogger and human
rights campaigner, who is currently living in Thailand with UNHCR refugee
status. Mr. Bach Hong Quyen helped Mr. Truong Duy Nhat with his administrative
procedures in Thailand and feels under threat from the Thai authorities because
of his knowledge about Mr. Truong Duy Nhat’s suspected abduction. Mr. Bach Hong
Quyen’s family is under surveillance by Thai authorities and on March 20, 2019,
Thai plainclothes police officers entered his house. The police officers then
left as they could not find him.

The
Observatory strongly condemns the suspected abduction and arbitrary detention
of Mr. Truong Duy Nhat, as they seem to be only aimed at sanctioning him for
his legitimate human rights activities, and urges the Vietnamese authorities to
immediately and unconditionally release him and ensure an independent
investigation into his suspected abduction. The Observatory further fears that Mr. Truong Duy Nhat would
be at risk of torture and ill-treatment while in detention, which would be
contrary to Vietnam’s obligations under Article 3 of the United
Nations Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The Observatory also
urges the Thai authorities to protect all human rights defenders in Thailand,
regardless of their nationality, put an end to all acts of harassment against
Mr. Bach Hong Quyen, and comply with their non-refoulement
obligations under Article 3 of the Convention against Torture.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Vietnam
asking them to:

i. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical integrity and
psychological well-being of Mr. Truong Duy Nhat and of all human rights
defenders in Vietnam;

ii. Immediately and
unconditionally release Mr. Truong Duy Nhat as his detention is arbitrary and merely aimed at
punishing him for his human rights activities;

iii. Put
an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against him
and all human rights defenders in Vietnam, and ensure in all circumstances that
they are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any hindrance
and fear of reprisals;

iv. Guarantee the access of Mr. Truong Duy Nhat to
his relatives and a lawyer of his choice;

Please also write to
the diplomatic representations of Thailand in your respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva, March 28, 2019

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken
quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by
FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this
programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights
defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international
civil society.

[1]Mr. Truong Duy Nhat is a former journalist with
State-run newspapers Bao Cong An Quang
Nam Danang (Quang Nam Danang Security Police newspaper) and Dai Doan Ket (Great Solidarity
newspaper). In 2011, he quit his work as a reporter to write for his blog “Mot
Goc Nhin Khac” (A Different Point of View), which became widely known for its
criticism of the government. In his blog, Mr. Truong Duy Nhat frequently
criticizes the performance of top government officials, including the Prime
Minister, on human rights issues.